"FOR NERVOUS TROUBLES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3037, 26 March 1917, Page 4

"FOR NERVOUS TROUBLES

■ v TIiEATiIENT OF RETURNED ■ ,: a : It-is-'.an ■unfortunate facfc, that eoibs men,who.come back from'the wa* suffer more .or-less serious mental , disorders, necessitating their treatment on, arrival here in some special institution. Hitherto, the Health. Department has provided for. these'men.at art institu-; tion at Puketeraki, a seaside.place near Dunedin.' ; The treatment ■-. for these patientsi -who are mostly suffering fronineurasthenia, shell-shock, and other neryous disorders, is, l at Puketeraki, recreation: such aa bathing, boating, and fishing, in the open air. This treat!ment has wrought many ~ wonderful cures, but-unfortunately some of the cases are-so serious that they cannot .with safety to the men be kept at such an institution, and the men-have to be sent to.merital hospitals. : There they are treated.-exactly. ■ like : '\ all. ;ot"her patients in. these institutions. .The law that no distinction I can be made between patients in these institutions except for medical reasons. - 33together there are ten returned soldiers in mental hospitals .-'throughout the Dominion. he visited Auckland recently, the Minister of Publio Health (the Hon. G. AV. Russell) consulted Dr. Beattie, Superintendent of the Auckland Mental Hospital, regarding the use of an institution known as Wolff Home for the treatment of these cases in the North Island,,.the. only special home now available being that at Puke.teraki: Dr.; Beattie reported that the place was entirely suitable ;for, .the and the Minister proposes in future to use it to the fullest possible extent for the accommodation of soldiers coming back from the war suffering from shell-shock, neurasthenia, and similar disorders, in exactly the same way. as Puketeraki is now used in the South Island. ■ v ;